Ezra 10:16 (LSB)

Passage

But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest separated out men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.

Nearby Context

Ezra 10:14 Let our princes stand in for the whole assembly, and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at set times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the burning anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.”

Ezra 10:15 However, Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood against this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helping them.

Ezra 10:16 But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest separated out men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter.

Ezra 10:17 And they completed investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

Ezra 10:18 Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "exiles", "ezra", "priest", "separated", "heads", "fathers", "households", and "each". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "exiles" and "ezra", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "However Jonathan the son of Asahel and..." into verse 17's "And they completed investigating all the men...", so "exiles" and "ezra" belong inside that flow. In Ezra context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "exiles" and "ezra" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.